Mooring winch



Dec. 22, 1964 R. F. G. HATLAPA MOORING WINCH Filed Nov. 5, 1962 VIII/Ul/I/Il/IM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII INVENTOR ROLF FRANZ GUNTHER HATLAPA ATTORNEYS United States Patent i 3,162,424 MOORIYG WINCH Rolf Franz Giinther Hatlapa, Utersen, Holstein, Tornescherweg 7, Hamburg, Germany Filed Nov. 5, 1962, Ser. No. 235,302 1 Claim. (Cl. 254-172) The present invention relates to mooring winches, particularly an electrically motor driven winch wherein control means are provided for varying the motor drive in terms of actual load placed upon the winch.

The present automatic warping winch is of the type wherein the speed with which the winch operates may be adjusted to account for differences in cable or rope tension due to fast changes in the draft of a ship, the tide, swells, Wind pressure and the like, so that a relatively stable position of the ship with its mooring may be maintained. Formerly, this requirement was met by steam winches which had a certain elastic characteristic. However, a satisfactory electrically driven mooring winch has not been developed.

Numerous previous inventors have attempted to provide a measure of elasticity in driving winches and have devised'means for measuring the load upon a winch. However, there has been no suggestion of controlling the driving of a winch in terms of actual, as opposed to preset, load which may be measured upon the winch.

According-t0 the present invention, the winch is mounted upon a hollowdrive shaft, and is driven by a motor drive connected to said hollow shaft by a torsion bar extending within the hollow shaft. Differential means are employed to transmit variance in rotation between the said hollow shaft and the torsion bar to a motor control means. The motor control then varies and may even reverse the drive of the electric motor in terms of the actual load placed upon the mooring winch.

Accordingly, it is in object of invention to provide in a mooring winch means for varying the driving of said winch in terms of the actual load placed upon said winch.

Another object of invention is to provide differential means for measuring the actual load placed upon the winch and accordingly adjusting motor driving of same.

Yet additional objects of invention will become apparent from the ensuing specification and attached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation, partially in section, of a proposed mechanism for measuring load upon a winch and controlling motor driving of same, and;

FIG. 2 is a top plan thereof.

Driving motor 38 is driven by a source of electrical energy maintained in control housing 9 and connected to motor 38 by conductive means 58. Motor 38 is mounted upon shaft 60 to which gear 37 is attached. Motor 38 may be braked conventionally by laminated disks 50 which are pressurized by spring 51. Magnets 52 may be employed for disengagement of spring 51 which in turn locks disks 50 upon failure of the electric supply. Gear 37 ingages driving wheel or gear 27 supported on shaft 30. Gear 27 in turn supports torsion bar 33 extending within hollow shaft 34 upon which capstan 36 is mounted. Bearing 35 may be employed intermediate capstan 36 and cable drum 32. A driven gear 28 is secured at the foot of hollow shaft 34 and engages differential gear 24. Since motor 38 operates upon the electricity supplied, overly fast rate of revolutions are developed when there is a total lack of weight upon capstan 36. The motor may be provided, therefore, with a additional shunt etiect (not illustrated) which slows it down at too high revolutions and thus prevents damage by the effect of 3,162,424 Patented Dec. 22, 1964 centrifugal force. Setting of motor 38 rate of drive is by hand wheel 2 the shaft 62 of which is mounted in bearings 4, 8, and 17 and is horizontally extensible to gear 13 against the pressure of compression spring 7. Wheel 2 may be horizontally retracted, as shown in phantom, removing gear 13 from contact with gear 14 and placing it in contact with gear 11 supported upon shaft 64 mounted in bearing 17. A revolution of gear 13 by hand wheel 2 is thus transmitted to gear 10 mounted upon shaft 66 supported in bearing 15"and thence to variable resistance 68 in switch housing 9. As gear 10 turns the resistance from a zero value the drum brake 50 is released by magnets 52 and inductions to motor 38 are commenced. As hand Whel 2 is released, spring 7 urges gear 13 back to its original position in contact with gear 14, thus giving it a power contact with motor control shaft 40. Gear 14 is mounted upon shaft 70 supported in bearings 6, 18 and 13 and having at one end gear 5 contacting winch load indicator plate 3 and at its other end having bevel gear 20 contacting motor shaft damping arbor 21.

Motor 38 then runs in accordance with the chosen resistance at idle, faster, or slower revolutions, while capstan 36 hauls the cable (not illustrated). In 'so doing the motor 38 will not have great momentum. Since driving gear 27 and driven gear 28 have different diameters differential gear 23 and gear 53 integrallyconnected therewith at the top of the arbor 72 will be turned more quickly than gear 24 which is integral with differential basket 25. Difierential basket 25, therefore, revolves more slowly than arbor 56 to which the gears 23 and 53 are attached. In fact, arbor 26 attached to motor shaft 40 mounted in bearing block 22 turns relatively in opposition to the turning of gears 23 and 53 which are driven by driving gear 27. To achieve this, minor gear 54 is placed inside the difierential to rotate by contact with arbor gear 53. This rotational movement is transmitted by gear 53 to gear 55 which is secured to the bottom of arbor 26 in turn fixed upon the top of motor shaft 40. Thus, gear 55 is turning relatively in opposition to gear 53. The respective diameters of driving gears 23 and 27 and driven gears 24 and 28 may be chosen so that dilferential basket 25 is revolving at half the rate of revolution of arbor 56. In this situation gear 55 is motionless because of the selection of diameters of gears 53, 54 and 55 within the difierential. Thus, motor control shaft 40 is also motionless. This situation pertains until the position of driving gear 27 with respect to driven gear 28, is changed or vice versa, occurring principally when the torsion rod 33 is revolved under heavy load. As the weight on drum 32 and capstan 36 and thus on hollow shaft 34 is increased, positions of gears 27 and 28 and their respective differ ential gears 23 and 24 is varied. This variation is transmitted by differential basket 25, gears 53, 54 and 55 to motor control shaft 40. In turn shaft 40 rotates into a new position where it stands as long as the load upon torsion rod 33 is constant.

Upon hauling of the cable the weight on drum 32 changes. Shortly before the cable is stiff the load will increase because of the pull caused by the cable sag. Torsion rod 33 now experiences the first phase of torsion which is transmitted by gears 27, 28, 23 and 24 to control shaft 40 and to the variable resistance in switch housing 9. Resistance in conductive means 58 is thus varied and electrical current to motor 38 is now increased. Motor 38 can then do hard work to haul the cable and move the ship until the cable has reached the pro-selected load value. As the pre-selected load is achieved torsion rod 33 undergoes such torsion that control shaft 40 will turn backwards, thus returning variable resistance in housing 9 to its shut off position. Accordingly motor 38 and magnets 52 are shut off and brake 50 is applied by compression spring 51. If pull upon the cable is increased due to unloading or climbing of the ship then stronger torsion upon torsion rod 33 will reactivate the variable resistance beyond its zero or shut off position to resupply current to motor 38 and magnets 52 thus releasing brake 50 and permitting the drum 32 to be rotated backwards until the torsion of torsion rod 33 is reduced to the preset load value. This continues until the load upon torsion rod 33 approaches the preset value at which point the brakes are reapplied and'the motor 38 is cut-off. V

Since torsion rod 33 is actually a spring with self-contained stability, short and abrupt changes in load normally could cause unintentional switching on and switching off of variable resistance 68 and cause the motor 38 to turn. These balancing movements of torsion rod 33 are taken care of by the hydraulic dampers 29 which inhibit nervous movements between driving gear 27 and driven gear 28. Dampers 29 include a piston assembly 42 and control pin 43. Thus, variable resistance 68 will not react nervously while torsion rod 33 is balancing out for short periods of time. Since motor control shaft 40 would normally be moved upon such balancing movements as additional damping means are provided consisting of a division of shaft 40 into two parts in line. These parts are connected elastically, e.g. by torsion'ally working coil springs 44, which permit the output part of shaft '40 "to l 4 delay. This is possible only in one turningl directionof shaft due to'the tendency to 'pullfinof' the hydraulic shoclg f-algsorber 41 whichfconnects in a'IYielding fashion on the output side of shaft 40 'with the fraineo'f the'winch.

Shoclg absorbert '41 which includes piston 49g is r'egl xlated 45 arideornplenieiita'ry needlevalve' ifi Shock v gwill permit the stronger: ahd-sustanifed 'lses' toj each'the" Contact shaft-J10 bf'switch 9, whereas reduction of" the load will reacliswitch 9.immediately..l 1 I .1 1 l As'wi ef pparent, numerous"modificationsfinfcon: struction ofithel dilfereptillzind' motor control may eni oyedi without fileparting'fromlflieispirit and .efined int ubioined Jen" 4 I claim: A motor driven winch comprising: (a) motor drive means; (b) a cable drum and a capstan supported upon a hollow drive shaft, having a driven gear at its base; (0) a torsion bar positioned upon a driving gear engaging said drive means, said torsion bar extending within said hollow drive shaft and interconnecting said shaft and said drive means within said winch;

(d) difierential means interconnecting said driving gear and said driven gear and including a motor shaft being divided in line and consisting of a firstand second portion, said first portion connected to-said gears and responsive to variations in movement; therebetween; f

(e) motor drive control means connected to said second portion of said motor shaft and responsive to said differential and controlling said motor drive means in terms of differential movement between said driving gear and said driven gear; 5

(f) a first hydraulic damping meanspositioned intermediate said driving and driven gears; and 1' 1 (g) a second hydraulic damping means attached to and positioned intermediate said first and said second portions of said motor shaft, said second damping means including a hydraulic shoclc absorber connected in yielding-relation to said; second portion of saidimotor shaftrto permit only the .stronger impulses caused by the variation in movement between said'gears to reach said second portipn of saidmotor shaft.

Lana aw g e 

